German doctors treating Alexei Navalny said tests indicate the Russian opposition leader was poisoned, confirming allegations made by his aides — and played down by Russian doctors — that he was the victim of an attack.
A spokeswoman for the Charité hospital in Berlin said on Monday that initial clinical findings pointed to “poisoning by a substance from the drug class cholinesterase inhibitors”. She added that while Mr Navalny’s condition was serious, there was no immediate danger to his life.
Angela Merkel, chancellor, and Heiko Maas, the German foreign minister, issued a rare joint appeal to the Russian authorities calling for a “detailed and fully transparent” probe of the alleged poisoning “in view of Mr Navalny’s prominent role in the political opposition in Russia”.